RECAP: Red Wings edge Maple Leafs, 4-1, in 'very good win'

DETROIT --Robby Fabbri worked hard while recovering from his third career ACL tear, overcoming both physical and mental obstacles to make his season debut on Jan. 4.

And that dedication is helping Fabbri, who scored the eventual game-winning goal on Thursday night in the Detroit Red Wings' 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena, return to form as a driving force on offense.
"I'm just getting back to my game and getting my legs going," said Fabbri, who has netted the game-winner in back-to-back contests. "And goals are coming, so I'm not gonna complain about that. But getting them in wins definitely feels a lot better."
The Maple Leafs appeared to strike first just 56 seconds into Thursday's game, but replay revealed that the goal did not count because it was scored by a distinct kicking motion. About eight minutes later, Lucas Raymond gave the Red Wings a 1-0 advantage with his 12th tally of the season.
Fabbri doubled Detroit's lead at 3:49 of the middle frame, but Toronto quickly responded to cut its deficit in half, 2-1. Late in the third, Ben Chiarot scored an empty-netter and Moritz Seider added a power-play goal to put the game out of reach.
Goalie Ville Husso made 32 saves for the Red Wings, who won their second consecutive game to improve to 18-15-7 (43 points) this season. Toronto dropped to 26-10-7 overall.
"We had a good 5-on-5 game, executed on special teams and flipped a tight game," head coach Derek Lalonde said. "A very good win for us."
NEXT UP: Detroit will conclude a three-game homestand on Saturday night, welcoming the Columbus Blue Jackets to Little Caesars Arena for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
REMINDER:The NHL All-Star Fan Vote is still open at
NHL.com/VOTE
and closes on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was named to the initial 32-man roster for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, which will be held at FLA Live Arena on Saturday, Feb. 4.
The 2023 NHL All-Star Fan Vote also features a Twitter vote, which will open on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 12:01 a.m. ET and run until Saturday, Jan. 14, at 11:59 p.m. ET. All Twitter votes will be combined with online vote totals. Each fan tweet must include the complete hashtag "NHLAllStarVote" followed by a player's full name or a Twitter handle.

SCORING SUMMARY

Detroit 1, Toronto 0 (8:48, 1st period)
Detroit opened the scoring for the fourth straight game when Raymond received a drop-pass from Larkin and fired it past Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov. It was Raymond's 35th career NHL goal, tying Gordie Howe for the third most by a Red Wings skater before age 21. Steve Yzerman (83) and Larkin (40) rank first and second, respectively.

Detroit 2, Toronto 0 (3:49, 2nd period)
Fabbri capped a slick Detroit passing sequence by one-timing Jonatan Berggren's pass in the slot for his Dominik Kubalik was also credited with an assist on the man-advantage tally, becoming the second Red Wings player to reach the 30-point mark this season.

Toronto 1, Detroit 2 (6:18, 2nd period)
Rasmus Sandin's centering feed bounced off Larkin's stick and into the back of the net, cutting Toronto's deficit in half.
Detroit 3, Toronto 1 (18:07, 3rd period)
Chiarot, assisted by Lucas Raymond and Larkin, scored on an empty net for his first goal since Nov. 19.

Detroit 4, Toronto 1 (19:40, 3rd period)
Jake Walman, skating in his 100th career NHL game, passed the puck from the right faceoff circle to Seider just below Toronto's blue line. After skating forward, Seider capped Thursday's scoring with a power-play goal.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on his takeaways from Thursday's game against Toronto
"A more of a complete game. This kind of felt like, before this two-game winning streak, the three-game losing streak where we played pretty good 5-on-5 but we didn't execute special teams."
Lalonde on Fabbri's road to recovery and immediate impact
"He was ready when he was ready. I think that's why he's at this jump with his return."
Fabbri on the importance of playing a better style of hockey
"That's more of a win that's our style. Great on the penalty kill. Husso was great in net. Just defending a lot better, and from that, we've created our offense. As long as we stick to that, we'll have a lot more games like this."
Fabbri on how he feels since returning to Detroit's lineup
"I feel good. I did everything to make sure I was as prepared as possible. The staff here did a great job."
Husso on if this win feels satisfying compared to Tuesday's
"A win is a win. A couple nights ago, I'll take that win every night. Of course, five goals is a lot. But we scored seven, so it was a good night that night. I think this is more how we wanna play."